Officers initially responded to a call at Home Depot of a man stealing tools. Police spotted the suspect, 38-year-old James Estes, and began to chase him on foot. That’s when they say he doubled back and stole a squad car.

After topping speeds of 70 miles per hour, the chase quickly ended with the suspect sideswiping another vehicle and crashing the patrol car onto a curb.

“He was trying to jump the fence,” Dhami said as she showed video they took from Saturday evening.

She added the suspect, now without pants, was trying to get into her backyard.

“In just a split second, they got out of the car and tackled him to the ground,” she said. “He was like, ‘You know, I messed up, I messed up,’ and he kind of said that repetitively until they took him into the police car.”

This theft comes just two weeks after a a man stole a CHP patrol car and then tried to hijack a bus at Sac State.

Many people are surprised by the sudden rash of stolen public safety vehicles.